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World War II Database

2 Jan 1941
  • German leaders Himmler and Heydrich categorized concentration camps into three categories for different types of prisoners, but in practice this categorization had little actual effect. ww2dbase [Discovery of Concentration Camps and the Holocaust | CPC]
  • German bombing severely damaged the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • Before dawn, British artillery pieces moved into position near Bardia, Libya. During the day, British monitor HMS Terror and British gunboats HMS Ladybird and HMS Aphis bombarded Bardia; Italian aircraft responded without success. After sun down, Wellington bombers of No. 70 Squadron RAF and Bombay bombers of No. 216 Squadron RAF attacked Italian positions at Bardia. Troops of the Australian 6th Division began to prepare for the ground assault. ww2dbase [Operation Compass | CPC]
  • German submarine U-65 sank British ship Nalgora 250 miles west of Port-Étienne, French West Africa at 2207 hours. As the military equipment destined for British troops in Egypt went down with the ship, 105 survivors took to lifeboats and would eventually make land at the Cape Verde Islands or rescue by other ships. This would be U-65's eighth and final sinking during the 49-day-long patrol. ww2dbase [CPC]
  • German submarine U-38 was detected by a convoy escort ship 300 miles northwest of Ireland, which attacked with depth charges. U-38 was slightly damaged but was able to continue with the patrol without needing immediate repairs. ww2dbase [CPC]
Atlantic Ocean
  • Franco Pittoni of Italian submarine Alpino Bagnolini reported serious damage and requested permission to end his war patrol early. ww2dbase [Alpino Bagnolini | CPC]
United Kingdom
  • In Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, a rescue party dug for six hours to rescue a six-year-old child trapped under the staircase where he had taken shelter from German bombing. Throughout the rescue the child was heard singing "God Save the King". He later explained that his father, a coal miner, had told him that when men were buried underground they kept singing to guide the rescuers, and this was the only tune that he knew the words. ww2dbase [Cardiff, Wales | AC]
Photo(s) dated 2 Jan 1941
Luxury liner Yawata Maru, 2 Jan 1941; she was converted to escort carrier Unyo during the warCrew of HMS Ladybird operating a 6-inch 50-caliber Mk XIII gun during the bombardment of Bardia, Libya, 2 Jan 1941

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Elevated view of the after section of the cruiser USS Honolulu at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, United States, 24 Oct 1942.

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